Legacy Combines Howa and Hogue
for Happy Hunters

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What do you get if you combine a Howa action, Hogue stock and a Nikko-Stirling Nighteater scope? A complete hunting or target-shooting package that not only looks great, but shoots every bit as good as it looks.

Ordinarily, combo deals capitalize on the strength of one element to overcome the weakness of another, but this is no ordinary combination. It’s more a meeting of equals.

The Howa action is solid, smooth and dependable. The Hogue stock is, well, a Hogue. They’re solid, dependable and have a surface that that helps them lay in your hands and on your shoulder like they’re glued in place.

Nikko-Stirling Nighteater Scope

The Nikko-Stirling Nighteater scope in the package is a 3.5-10x42. It was chosen as the 2007 0ptic of the Year by Shooting Illustrated. Shockproof, waterproof, and made of Grade A Japanese glass with Microlox ET coatings for great light transmission, it’s not hard to understand how it earned the name “Nighteater”. The light transmission truly is outstanding. Give it a number-4 reticule, add-in side-focus and parallax adjustments, then finish the whole thing in matte back and you have a solid looking rifle/scope combination.

And you don’t have to worry about the rings and bases, those are included in the package as well – it really is ready-to-shoot.

Testing at the Range

So how does it shoot? In a word, great.

The first range session with our test rifle in.30-06 was one where we expected to be getting everything sighted in. Granted, the package was billed as having been sighted-in, but that normally means boresighting. Normally, that’s only a very rough adjustment.

Notice we said normally.

The first round off the rest hit solidly in the center of our first 50-yard target. Attributing that to luck as much as anything, we worked the bolt, ejected the case, and put the gun back on target.

Second round; same result.

At that point, we moved to the 100-yard target and were quickly rewarded with the solid sound of ammo striking steel. In other words, the Howa/Nighteater combo was suitably sighted to have put rounds into a kill zone right out of the box. But, being into the spirit of testing at that point, we proceeded to fire a three round group that was just outside one inch. With a very warm barrel, no adjustments and a simple rest, that’s more than adequate for hunting.

Long story short, we didn’t have to spend much time zeroing the scope. In fact, we spent more time adjusting the scope for glasses than we did getting the gun to shoot accurately. With ammo prices somewhere on the north side of expensive, that’s not altogether a bad thing, either. 

Here’s a tip for ranging your rifle:

Always use the ammo you’ll be hunting with. We used the same expensive hunting rounds we were taking to the field, but we know it’s better to burn a few rounds making certain your rifle and ammo are compatible before heading into the field.

If you change ammo while you’re in the field, always make time to fire a check round before heading out to hunt. The advice is the same if you’re simply shooting recreationally, but it is critical to be certain of your rifle/ammo combo. If your rig’s been out of your sight and subject to handling (like checked baggage), always schedule in a range session to check your zero. It can save you a big disappointment later.

Performance and Price

Howa rifles aren’t expensive, but they’re extremely well made. Well-finished with no rough spots or tool marks and a very smooth bolt; it also sports a trigger that’s at least as good as any out of the box. The Hogue Over-molded stock Legacy Sports International combined with the barreled action produces a 13.87-inch length of pull. That makes it a good fit for most shooters and the eight and a half-pound weight isn’t much of a burden for a day in the field or a session in the shooting stand.

The weight also means it’s not a bit unpleasant to fire in our .30-06 test caliber. In the smaller calibers such as the .204 Ruger or .223 Remington, it should be a dream to shoot-and with the ultra-clear Nighteater scope, a nightmare for varmints. The heavier calibers are, well, heavier calibers and the rifle should perform accordingly.

The Howa/Hogue Nikko-Sterling Nighteater package retails for $599 in .223 Rem., .204 Ruger, .22-250 Rem., .243 Win., .25-06, .270 Win., .308, and 30-06 Calibers. Moving up to the .300 Win. Mag, .338 Win. Mag, and 7mm Rem. Mag calibers adds $46 to the retail price, but $645 for a solid rifle/scope combo has to rank up there with one of the truly great deals in long guns today.

Link to Howa-Hogue Nighteater Package